20 Confessions and Obsessions of The Birthday Girl-ME!

Hey Fabbies! Do you know what today is?! Of course you do! It’s my mother effin birthday!! (Insert dancing lady with the red dress here). That’s right. It’s my 35th time around the sun. Can you believe it? I can’t. I mean, I feel like I was just skyrocketing myself outta my mom’s vag! (She said that she when she was going into labor at the hospital, she had to cross her legs because I was coming so fast and the doctor’s weren’t even ready and set up yet to “catch” me. If I remember correctly, I shot out like a cannon. Well, I don’t remember, but that’s how the story is told. Which has kinda been the theme of my life! I often feel like I’m in a hurry for no reason! I walk fast, talk fast…) But I digress. Life comes at you fast. I can still distinctly remember all of my “milestone” birthdays, and it seems as if 35 came fast as hell. As birthdays tend to do I reckon.  I was talking to my mom yesterday about how many women don’t like to disclose their age the older they get, (including her and my Grandma Bert. You better not dare ask them how old they are! lol!), but I don’t mind telling my age. My mom always says: “You’re only as old as you feel.” And well, I feel like a ripe 25 year old! Ha!And on this day, I wanted to share 20 confessions AND obsessions that I have, some of which you may already know, and some which maybe you don’t! (insert devilish grin here) hehe.

So let’s get started!

1. I have become obsessed with yoga. Okay, well, obsessed may be a little much, but I have really come to enjoy it a lot. I started doing yoga a few years ago when I lived in LA, but was inconsistent with it. Once I started meditating more consistently as well, I incorporated yoga and long stretches with my meditation practices. Maybe it’s the fact that I am getting older, but I feel like my body and mind need both. It’s utterly relaxing, and I feel so at ease and all zen afterwards. It takes practice for sure, but it’s well worth the effort.

2.  I have never bought foundation. As in makeup. As in, I’m 35 and could not tell you the first thing about “face” makeup. (Which is what I call it! lol!) Concealer, face powder, highlights, foundation…I haven’t a clue. And here’s the crazy thing: I love makeup! I love seeing girls with perfectly etched brows, and a “beat” face, but I for one, do not know the first thing about applying such things. My go-to makeup look is this: black eyeliner, lipstick, and if I’m feeling fancy for the day, mascara. When I’m about to hit the town, I’ll then add some blush to the whole get up, and then I’m good to go! I never really just cared enough to want to get into foundation and highlighters and all that, so I never have bought any. But if anyone wants to teach me, be my guest! Ha!

3. I occasionally grind my teeth while I sleep. This has been an ongoing thing for years, and the only reason why I even know that I do it is because it’s so loud it wakes my hubby up out of his sleep! He keeps saying that I’m gonna wake up one day with no teeth in my mouth. (blink blink) It doesn’t cause me pain, but I know it can’t be the greatest thing for my teeth either. I tried sleeping with a mouthguard years ago but it was uncomfortable and yucky. I told the dentist about it years ago and they really didn’t give me any “remedies”, so oh well. Luckily I don’t do it every night…I don’t think. 😮

4. I love the show Insecure. It comes on HBO and it has amazing writers, amazing actors, and is just a dope show all around. The creator and star of the show, Issa Rae, is a woman of color, as is almost the entire cast. Yassss! My mom put me on a few months back, so shoutout to you Mom for enhancing my television experience.

5. I want another tattoo. Or 3. It’s been four years since I’ve gotten a tattoo, and I have some I have in mind that I want done soon! Stay tuned! hehe

6. I currently have 8 tattoos. If you were wondering.

7. I did not wake up like this:

Somedays I wake up looking like who did what and what for. I sometimes joke to my hubby that he must really love me because I wake up like a bag of last week’s garbage periodically! And because I work from home, that rough looking me stays that way until about 2pm, until I have to tell myself, “girl! If you don’t get your ass in the shower and at least attempt to look like you didn’t get hit by a bus!” There’s this saying: “She was looking like a snack!” which is another way of saying, “she looked really good.” Well I wake up looking like 2-week old leftovers.

8. I love my kids. I really do. They bring me great joy and blah blah blah blah. I mean really, ya’ll already know this. But these are confessions after all, so I must confess: they get on my nerves sometimes. The word “mommy”, spoken in low and high volumes, is spoken about 3,654 times in one day. I’m sure other moms can relate. And if you have more than one kid, then I know you’re next level on edge sometimes. So some days, OH MY GOD their bedtime cannot come quickly enough. I send the clocks in the house vibes to speed up so that 8:00 pm can come at lightning bolt speeds.

9. I listen to so much hard core rap music that you would think I grew up cooking dope in the kitchen. Seriously, trap music is the best workout music ever. Not up for debate.

10. I don’t know how to use a fingernail file. I have never owned one. The only time I actually bought some was when I hosted that epic Girls Weekend last year at my house. I bought some just in case any of my guests needed one. But me? Don’t. Know. How. To. Use. It.

11. The older I get, the more emotional I get. I don’t know what is up with that. I will literally read a deep quote on Instagram and tear up.

12. I’m obsessed with lighting incense. As in, if my eyes are open I want to be smelling incense. I light them before I make breakfast, and all day in between until I go to bed. I love for things to smell good, including my home! I recently ordered a huge pack of incense (350, with like 10 different scents), and nearly had an orgasm when they arrived.

13. I often make up songs with my kids, and together we sing them over and over again. And when I say sing, I mean, I really close my eyes and sing with feeling and passion. The most recent hit I made up was a song called “Eat Your Food.” We were sitting around the table eating, and the kids kept playing, saying “Mommy watch this!” as they proceeded to do some sort of trick or something other than eat their food. So I began singing, “Eattttttttt, yourrrrrrrr fooooooooooood.” Then they joined in, and we all sang together. In harmony. Well, kinda. Then we each had solos, where I started with “Eat”, Zé continued with “Your”, and Vito finished with “Food”. We sounded pretty close to the Jackson 5 I’d say. And us singing definitely made them continue to not eat their food, because we were, well singing.

14. I baked my very first cake from scratch recently, icing included. To say it was a proud moment for me would be an understatement. It was a vegan carrot cake, and it tasted DIVINE if I do say so myself. It wasn’t the prettiest thing, but it shole was tasty!

15. At first I was going to make this list 35, since that is my age, but as I’ve been writing, I have realized that I talk/write wayyyyy too much, and ya’ll would be reading this blog post all the way until Thanksgiving.

16. I am OBSESSED with mushrooms. No, not the “magic mushrooms” that people get high on. But the ones that are actually nutritiously good for you. I literally, and I mean LITERALLY eat some form of mushrooms everyday. I snack on white whole mushrooms raw, dipping them in either homemade vegan ranch or bbq sauce, or sometimes both sauces mixed together if I’m feeling lavish. But I also make stuffed mushrooms, fried mushrooms, mushrooms sandwiches (ugh this is my fave!), mushrooms mixed in with my salads, and I pretty much put them in most dishes that I cook. If there were ever a mushroom shortage in Arizona, I’m sure I would be the reason. Just last night I got 7 containers of organic mushrooms from Whole Foods. And I would have gotten more, but that’s all that was left. It’s serious around here.

17. Speaking of getting high, I do indulge in marijuana. Often. I’m an adult. I’m responsible. It’s legal in Arizona. And I enjoy it. Then end. AND, because I’ve been on my detox kick all year, I decided to detox from it all month long until my birthday, just as a challenge to myself. Wait. The detox ends on my birthday. Which is today. So while you’re reading this blog post, I’m more than likely feeling pretty damn good right now off of the good ole mary jane. hehe

18. I miss vlogging. But honestly, this year has been somewhat the year of the grind for me, as I have been working on something HUGE! So I’ve been quiet on the YouTube front, but don’t you guys worry, in 2018, you guys will see more vlogs, and more big shit popping. 😉

19. I haven’t been to Miami, Florida since 2009. The only reason why this is even relevant, is because I will be returning there in 2 and a half weeks to be a part of my good friend Billy Joe’s art exhibit during the acclaimed Art Basel Show. When I tell y’all that I am BEYOND excited to get back to Miami!!! Be prepared for a lengthy blog post recap. I seriously think I might change outfits 4 times a day, and pack 3 suitcases. I mean, Miami is MIAMI! It’s a fun city no matter what time of year you go, and I for one, cannot wait!

20. I really enjoy hanging out with my husband. As cliché as that sounds, I really do though. We make each other laugh, we are into the same things, (well, he doesn’t watch TV at all, whereas I love to binge watch the Housewives shows), and he provides a level of comfort for me that I can’t even explain. I mean, I pick my nose in front of him and he doesn’t even blink an eye. (Now, I will NOT poop in front of him though. As a matter of fact, til this day I won’t tell him if I did or not. He’s been waiting a decade for me to say, “Oh yeah I have to poop, watch the kids.” Nope. I’ll say, “I have to go catch up on my social media real quick”, or, when I’ve been in there for while (and oftentimes I stay in there longer because the kids are yelling Mommyyyyy so I’m hiding too), I’ll say: “I was organizing my jewelry duh!” I mean, I’m typically an open book but honey you don’t need to know my bathroom escapades okay? But aside from loving him so much, I do genuinely enjoy his company. 🙂

I hope everyone has an amazing week, and that you enjoy the time you get to spend with your families this weekend! I’m gonna attempt to make peach cobbler for the first time this week, so wish me luck!

xoxo

Raven